Illustration for Sailors and Landsmen -- A Story of 1812

Illustration for Sailors and Landsmen -- A Story of 1812
Illustration for Sailors and Landsmen -- A Story of 1812

Illustration for Sailors and Landsmen -- A Story of 1812

Date1894
Artist (American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"Sailors and Landsmen -- A Story of 1812," by Howard Pyle, in Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1894
MediumInk on paper
Dimensionssheet: 10 × 8 7/16 in. (25.4 × 21.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. C. Lalor Burdick, 1992
Object number1992-14
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextIn an unusual approach to his story-telling and illustration, Howard Pyle wrote Sailors and Landsmen as an "outline of a romance," leaving the entire first and last chapters blank and scattering many ellipses throughout the rest of the text. He described it as a "Christmas gift to the reader, who may, if he or she chooses, fill in the novel to suit the taste." The artist inscribed this original image to someone to celebrate Christmas of 1894.

Here Jack, a naval officer on a visit home, falls in love with Evelyn just as he receives his orders to rejoin his ship when the War of 1812 breaks out. He is just about to declare his love for her.

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